Kingboard has issued a price increase letter, speeding up the realization of the CCL super高涨 period.

On May 27th, according to China Business News, Guangdong Kingboard Co., Ltd. has issued a price increase notice to its customers, with the specific increase being 10% for CCL (Base Material), and 20% for PP material, to be implemented from the date of order acceptance.

Sources close to the matter revealed that due to the significant increase in raw material prices, there is currently no room for negotiation with downstream customers, and all customers will uniformly implement the new selling prices. This means that the price increase is likely to be directly converted into profit rather than being offset by rising costs.

Following the news, shares of Kingboard Laminates Holdings Limited (1888.HK) rose by more than 8% in the early session, with the stock price setting a new historical high, and has accumulated a gain of more than 340% since the beginning of the year; parent company Kingboard Holdings (0148.HK) also rose by over 3%,同样创盘中历史新高.

Citi Research Report had just given "Buy" and target price increase the day before

This market event almost perfectly coincides with the latest research report released by Citi's research team (Eric Lau) on May 25th.

In the report, Citi had anticipated this round of price increase trend: ASP of CCL (Average Selling Price) will remain flat in May and start a new round of price increases in June. Meanwhile, the price of e-glass fabric has risen significantly since December 2025, with the 1080 series up 76% YTD, the 2116 series up 73%, and the 7628 series up 62% (as of mid-May 2026).

Citi has significantly raised its target price for Kingboard Laminates from 51 HKD to 66 HKD, maintaining a "Buy" rating, and has increased its earnings forecasts for 2026-28 by 16%-24%, expecting a three-year EPS compound annual growth rate of 73%, with net profit possibly reaching 12.9 billion HKD by 2028.

The scarcity logic of "Copper Price Inflation Beneficiaries"

A key insight in Citi's report is being validated by this price increase: While most Chinese industrial companies are facing profit compression due to the inflation of raw material costs, Kingboard Laminates is one of the few beneficiaries that can pass on the increase in copper prices. Citi data shows that the correlation between Kingboard and copper prices is over 60%, meaning when copper prices rise, CCL prices increase, and profits grow rather than decrease.

The deeper supply-side logic lies in the severe shortage of looms. Each loom produces about 200,000 meters per year of ordinary e-glass fabric, but only 7,000-8,000 meters for AI fabrics (Low Dk, Low CTE). The global high-speed loom market has an annual increase of about 5,000-7,000 units, which is still unable to make up for a supply gap of about 20%.

The global loom market is highly oligopolistic, with Toyota and Tsudakoma accounting for about 70% of the market share. Kingboard, with its long-term strategic partnership with Toyota, plans to expand the number of looms from about 3,300 to 5,800 within the next 20 months, a relationship that constitutes a competitive moat that is difficult for competitors to replicate.

Capacity Expansion Roadmap: Accelerated AI Supply Chain Penetration

Kingboard's growth narrative is no longer limited to traditional CCL but is penetrating into the high-end materials of the Nvidia, ASIC chip supply chain:

• AI fabric (low dielectric constant glass fabric): The second phase of expansion is scheduled to start at the end of Q2 2026, with the addition of three furnaces producing Low Dk gen1, gen2, and Low CTE, and initial customers are EMC and Panasonic; by the end of the year, another eight furnaces will be added, expanding customers to Doosan, Scien, and TUC;

• Q-glass certification: Expected to be completed in 2H26, which is